Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Closet Christianity?

Mr Gorbachev's surprise visit confirmed decades of rumours that, although he was forced to publicly pronounce himself an atheist, he was in fact a Christian, and casts a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989 in a new light. Ronald Reagan, the former United States president, allegedly told his close aides on a number of occasions that he felt his opponent during the Cold War was a "closet believer".

Mr Reagan held deep religious convictions himself. However, until now Mr Gorbachev has allowed himself to express only pantheistic views, saying in one interview "nature is my god".

Some questions:-Is there such a thing as a "Closet Christian"?-Does this fall into the "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before the Father" category?-Do you think Mikhail Gorbachev's claim to be a Christian had influence as to how he approached the cold war and the subsequent break up of the Soviet Union?